What Goes On at NOSH Live

Inspiring Speakers Give You Actionable Takeaways

We love it when a speaker brings an insight that makes everyone think. We ask for best practices, battle stories or cases that focus on innovation, growth and the lessons learned in the process.

Your Brand, Center Stage

NOSH Live features the "Pitch Slam" which allows startup brands to get instant feedback from a group of expert judges, the NOSH community and the world. Also, Sampling Stations allow you to showcase your stuff and get thoughts from the people who know what you are up against.

Networking Opportunities to Drive New Partnerships

There is nothing like being there and experiencing NOSH live with people who want to make better products and find partners and share experiences. This is your chance to collaborate and build partnerships that will help you succeed.

Education to Get You Started

Bootcamp the day prior will get you started on the right foot. Build a solid foundation and have special access to additional networking. An added bonus for young food brands.

NOSH Live Winter 2017 Sponsors

NOSH Live Winter 2017 Speakers

Neil Grimmer

Founder & CEO, Habit Inc.

John Foraker

Co-Founder & CEO, Once Upon A Farm

John Foraker

Co-Founder & CEO, Once Upon A Farm

John is the Co-founder and CEO of Once Upon A Farm, a company on a mission to build a purpose driven brand focused on reinventing a number of kid-food categories in the US toward better health & nutrition, while driving significant positive social and environmental impact. Company information can be found at www.onceuponafarmorganics.com. Prior to his new start-up, John spent more than 30 years in the natural and organic food industry running businesses with a sharp focus on sustainability and social responsibility. John was the longtime leader of Annie’s, Inc., a leading natural & organic food brand, in the US from 1999 to 2017. As CEO of Annie’s, he took the company public in 2012 under the symbol BNNY before General Mills acquired the business in 2014 for $820 million. For the following three years John ran the Annie’s operating unit and also advised General Mills’ small business incubator 301, Inc. He was recognized as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® 2015 in Northern California. In August 2017, he transitioned into a new role as Chairman of the Bunny, where he continues to work with General Mills to drive leadership in company culture, organic and regenerative agriculture, and strategy support. Foraker received a B.S. in agricultural economics from UC Davis and an MBA from UC Berkeley.

Cassie Nielsen

Vice President of Talent, VMG Partners

Cassie Nielsen

Vice President of Talent, VMG Partners

Cassie Nielsen is the Vice President of Talent at VMG Partners where she works intimately with founders and leaders of branded consumer product companies on their Talent and People strategies. VMG has worked closely and successfully with brands such as babyganics, Drunk Elephant, Humm Kombucha, Justin's, KIND, Nature's Bakery, Perfect Bar, Pirate's Booty, Pretzel Crisps, Quest, Spindrift, Stone, SunBum, and Vega to name a few. Prior to her tenure at VMG Partners, she did executive search at SPMB and various Operations and Talent roles at Goldman Sachs.

Adnan Durrani

Founder & CEO, Saffron Road

Adnan Durrani

Founder & CEO, Saffron Road

Mr. Durrani is the CEO and founder of American Halal Co, Inc. — which markets the Saffron Road brand line of
culinary cuisines and plant based protein snacks. Saffron Road is the first halal product to be sold nationally in
the USA. Whole Foods has noted Saffron Road as being one of the most successful brand launches nationally
in their 30-year history. Saffron Road is now a leading Natural/Organic PLATFORM brand and is sold in over
20,000 retail food stores. According to A.C. Nielson/SPINS Scantrak, Saffron Road is the fastest growing natural
frozen entrée brand in USA and nationally ranked #2. Mr. Durrani is a serial entrepreneur and investment
professional for almost 30 years, as President of Condor Ventures, Inc., a venture firm devoted to strategic
investing in natural food companies. His entrepreneurial ventures have resulted in a successful track record of
scaling and growing niche beverage and natural food product lines into mainstream branded companies that
also deliver disruptive social impact. Mr. Durrani founded Vermont Pure in 1991. Today, Vermont Pure/Crystal
Rock is the 2nd largest bottled water company in the Northeast. Mr. Durrani was also a partner in Stonyfield
Farms, Inc., which was sold to Groupe Danone in 2001. He was also a principal of Delicious Brands, Inc., which
he scaled, with the financial backing of Carl Icahn, to become the 5th largest cookie brand in the U.S. Adnan
also sits on the Board of Directors of Maple Hill Creamery.

Phil Lempert

President & CEO, Consumer Insight Inc.

Phil Lempert

President & CEO, Consumer Insight Inc.

For more than 25 years, Lempert, an expert analyst on consumer behavior, marketing trends, new products and the changing retail landscape, has identified and explained impending trends to consumers and some of the most prestigious companies worldwide. Known as The Supermarket Guru® Lempert is a distinguished author and speaker who alerts customers and business leaders to impending corporate and consumer trends, and empowers them to make educated purchasing and marketing decisions.
As one of America’s leading consumer trend-watchers and analysts, Phil Lempert is recognized on television, radio and in print. For twenty plus years Phil has served as food trends editor and correspondent for NBC News’ Today show, reporting on consumer trends, food safety and money-saving tips, as well as showcasing new products, as well as regular appearances on ABC’s The View, FOX Business, Dr. Oz, The Oprah Winfrey Show, 20/20, CNN, CNBC, FOX, as well as on local television morning and news programs throughout the country. For almost two decades, he hosted the syndicated show Shopping Smart on the WOR Radio Network and now co-hosts the weekly Lost in the Supermarket podcast on iTunes.
Phil Lempert was one of the pioneers of the new information media, founding SupermarketGuru.com in 1994. The website is now one of the leading food and health resources on the Internet, visited by more than 9 million people each year. SupermarketGuru.com offers thorough food ratings, analyzes trends in food marketing and retail, and features health advice, unique recipes, nutrition analysis, allergy alerts and many other resources to help consumers understand their food, health, lifestyle and shopping options.
Phil is the founder and editor of The Lempert Report, Food, Nutrition & Science, Facts, Figures & the Future, and The Food Journal. He has been profiled and interviewed by USA Today, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Newsweek and Ad Age, and is interviewed by hundreds of publications each year. He is also a columnist for Forbes.com.
He has served on the Executive Committee of Michelle Obama's Chefs Move to School program. He is the founder and CEO of the Retail Dietitians Business Alliance; and has developed and manages Foodservice@Retail: The Great Grocerant educational program for the National Restaurant Association, hosts and manages the Most Innovative Product Awards for the National Confectioners Association, developed the Supermarket Chef Showdown for the Food Marketing Institute, created and managed the Spud Nation Throwdown Competition for the National Potato Council.
Lempert is the author of Being the Shopper and Healthy, Wealthy & Wise. His previous books include: Phil Lempert’s Supermarket Shopping & Value Guide, Top Ten Trends for Baby Boomers and Crisis Management: A Workbook for Survival. He is currently working on his next book which documents the important relationship between Millennials and food - YOLO, The Intersection of The Jazz Age with The Millennials' Passion for Food.
Phil Lempert graduated from Drexel University with degrees in Marketing and Retail Management and did his Post-Graduate studies at Pratt Institute. He worked at McDonald’s and Howard Johnson’s before joining his family’s food brokerage firm. Lempert went on to create Lempert Advertising, a full-service, award-winning advertising agency that specialized in food and retail branding, marketing and public relations.
A resident of California, Lempert’s roots are in the Belleville, New Jersey dairy farm started by his grandfather. The family food tradition carried on through his father’s work as a food manufacturer, distributor and broker and then to Phil Lempert, The Supermarket Guru®.

Janica Lane

Managing Director, Piper Jaffray

Janica Lane

Managing Director, Piper Jaffray

Janica Lane is a managing director at Piper Jaffray focused on providing investment banking and M&A advisory services to consumer companies in healthy, active and sustainable living industries, with a focus on food and beverage, as well as nutritional supplements.
Prior to joining Piper Jaffray, Lane was a partner at Partnership Capital Growth, a boutique investment bank providing M&A and private placement services to health and wellness-oriented businesses. Prior to investment banking, Lane was a researcher at Stanford University’s Center for Environmental Science and Policy (CESP) and an equity research associate on Prudential Securities’ energy team.
Lane has a Master of Business Administration degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She received dual bachelor's degrees (international relations and Spanish) with Phi Beta Kappa honors from Stanford University. She spent six months living in Santiago, Chile, as part of her undergraduate education and is fluent in Spanish.

Alison Ryu

Managing Director, CircleUp

Alison Ryu

Managing Director, CircleUp

Alison Ryu is a Managing Director at CircleUp, the investment platform providing capital and resources to early-stage consumer brands. In her role, Alison leads investments out of CircleUp Growth Partners, a data-driven, scalable fund which leverages CircleUp's proprietary technology Helio to invest in visionary founders. Prior to CircleUp, Alison was a Vice President at TSG Consumer, where she invested in consumer and retail brands. She also spent a year on the executive team of Backcountry.com, one of the TSG Consumer portfolio companies, where she led brand marketing and product development. Before TSG, Alison worked in investment banking at J.P. Morgan in the Consumer & Retail Group.

Brett Thomas

Co-Founder, CAVU Venture Partners

Mark Sisson

Founder, Primal Kitchen

Mark Sisson

Founder, Primal Kitchen

Ancestral health pioneer and ex-endurance athlete Mark Sisson is the bestselling author of the Primal Blueprint and Primal Endurance, and blogger at the top-rated health and fitness website MarksDailyApple.com. He is the founder of several companies: Primal Nutrition, LLC—devoted to designing state-of-the-art supplements that address the challenges of living in the modern world, Primal Kitchen®—delivering uncompromisingly delicious, nutrient-dense foods that are always dairy/gluten/grain/soy free and full of beneficial fats and high-quality protein, Primal Kitchen Restaurants—a franchise of primal/paleo-aligned restaurants that offer healthy, clean and organic fast-casual dining options, and Primal Health Coach—offering an unparalleled and fully-rounded health coaching and business education. Join Mark as he shares over 30 decades of research and experiential learning and unlocks the keys to building metabolic flexibility, becoming a fat-burning beast and taming hunger and cravings forever.

Betsy McGinn

Founder, McGinn eCommConsulting

Betsy McGinn

Founder, McGinn eCommConsulting

McGinn eCommConsulting provides expertise in eCommerce strategy for CPG companies
ranging from launch stage to $3 billion in sales. With over 11 years of experience with
Amazon.com and other strategic eCommerce partners, Betsy works with clients on launch and
business optimization strategy, product and pack develop, problem resolution and ongoing
management of their eCommerce business.
With eight years of eCommerce leadership at Seventh Generation, Betsy provides a unique
perspective through the brand lens to guide clients in this complex channel. Additional multi-
channel experience in both the US and Canada enhances the development of eCommerce
strategy that balances the interests of all sales channels in order to manage channel conflict.

Benjamin Levy

Vice President, Echo Capital Group

Benjamin Levy

Vice President, Echo Capital Group

Benjamin Levy is Vice President of Echo Capital Group, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm focused on disruptive consumer packaged goods startups. ECHO combines decades of operational expertise with the dynamic insights of a young team, providing growth capital and strategic collaboration to elevate innovative companies to a new level. At Echo, Ben directs investments for the firm, and provides strategic guidance to portfolio companies through board service. Ben also serves as Private Equity Manger for the international investment firm, Consolidated Investment Group (CIG), where he leads sourcing, diligence, and growth strategy for acquisitions in the food and beverage industry. CIG is the family office behind the co-founder of Hot Pockets®, David Merage, and focuses on investing in real estate, capital markets, direct private equity, and philanthropic activities. Echo Capital Group and CIG combine their expertise and resources to collaborate in exciting transactions in the food and beverage space and beyond.

Sabrina Merage Naim

Principal, Echo Capital Group

Sabrina Merage Naim

Principal, Echo Capital Group

Sabrina Merage Naim is the Principal of Echo Capital Group, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm focused on disruptive consumer packaged goods startups. ECHO combines decades of operational expertise with the dynamic insights of a young team, providing growth capital and strategic collaboration to elevate innovative companies to a new level. Sabrina also serves as the Director of Corporate Strategy for the international investment firm, Consolidated Investment Group. CIG is the family office behind the co-founder of Hot Pockets®, David Merage, and focuses on investing in real estate, capital markets, direct private equity, and philanthropic activities. Echo Capital Group and CIG combine their expertise and resources to collaborate in exciting transactions in the food and beverage space and beyond. Sabrina also runs the Sabrina Merage Foundation. Founded in 2008, the Foundation exists to build bridges between diverse societies through educational programs for young people. She has been invited to speak at conferences all over the country for family members and advisors alike, and has been featured in magazines and business articles for her work with ECHO, CIG, and the Sabrina Merage Foundation.

Luke Vernon

Managing Partner, Ridgeline Ventures

Luke Vernon

Managing Partner, Ridgeline Ventures

Luke Vernon is a Managing Partner of Ridgeline Ventures, a Boulder-based investment firm that invests in healthy living companies. Prior to Ridgeline, Luke was involved in a number of ventures, including as the COO of Eco-Products, the nation’s leading brand of sustainable foodservice packaging, which he helped grow from less than $1 million in revenue to over $80 million before it was acquired. Luke is also the founder of Luke’s Circle, a site that helps emerging companies find talented professionals. Luke began his career in management consulting for Deloitte and holds degrees from Cornell University, the University of Colorado, and was an entrepreneurship fellow at Stanford University. Luke resides in Boulder with his wife and three children.

Josh Wand

Founder and CEO, ForceBrands

Josh Wand

Founder and CEO, ForceBrands

Josh Wand is the Founder and CEO of ForceBrands, which offers executive search services, board of director assembly and industry-specific job boards for the consumer product industry. Wand founded ForceBrands in 2007 with the understanding that people are a company's greatest asset. What began as BevForce quickly expanded into other forces: FoodForce and BeautyForce. All of these forces make up the greater good: ForceBrands. Now in its tenth year, ForceBrands works with emerging and enterprise brands to build their teams and help people at all stages of their careers. Wand attributes the company's success to the unique qualities and dedication of the people involved. Prior to creating ForceBrands, Wand held positions at Southern Wine & Spirits, AV Imports, and Sidebar Spirits in roles that included business development, management of a national sales and distribution network, and staffing the organization and instituting educational training programs for hotels and restaurant groups.

Kathryn Peters

EVP, Retailer Services, SPINS

Kathryn Peters

EVP, Retailer Services, SPINS

Kathryn Peters has served SPINS for 10 years across numerous key areas of the growing business. Her commitment to and passion for retail inspires her work developing and sustaining valuable retail relationships at the foundation of the SPINS ecosystem. Kathryn’s insight into helping retailers succeed with SPINS is informed by her previous vice president roles in merchandising and marketing at Ahold and BI-LO, LLC. as well as years of category management and sales experience with retailers during her time with Ralston Purina.

Brian Reed

Principal, Market Structure, IRI

Brian Reed

Principal, Market Structure, IRI

Brian is a category management, shopper and consumer insights professional with over 25 years of experience. He has extensive focus in advanced analytics including modeling and testing and strategic planning with both manufacturers and retailers. Prior to joining IRI, Brian was the Director of Market Research at Furniture Brands International. He also served as the leader for the category planning process for Nestle Purina Pet Care.

Meena R. Mansharamani

CEO, Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Foods

Meena R. Mansharamani

CEO, Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Foods

Meena Mansharamani is an innovative, strategic and passionate leader who has a track record of delivering impressive results in both corporate and start-up environments. As CEO of Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Foods, Meena leads a passionate and resourceful team committed to fulfilling Maya Kaimai’s mission of creating and offering exceptional Indian foods that are flavorful, approachable and modern. As President of Intend Growth, LLC., which she founded in January 2014, Meena partners with leaders of health and wellness brands committed to delivering higher levels of marketplace impact. Prior to these roles, Meena was Managing Director of Materne North America where she delivered breakout growth, raising the GoGo squeeZ brand from $7MM to $120MM in three years. Before joining Materne, Meena was SVP Innovation and Insights at Pepsi-Cola and VP Strategy at PepsiCo. She was also Vice President of the Consumer Products and Retail Practice at A.T. Kearney. Meena serves as a Board member of two PE-backed companies: Bare (VMG) and Elevation Brands/Ian's (Renewal Funds). Meena also serves on the Boards of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, committed to raising funds for childhood cancer research, and Animal Haven, committed to animal rescue. She is also a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. Meena holds an MBA from Wharton and a MA/BA from Harvard.

Tyler Merrick

Founder, Project 7

Tyler Merrick

Founder, Project 7

Tyler grew up in a family pet food manufacturing business in the Panhandle of Texas so all he’s known is entrepreneurship and consumer products. Tyler went to school at Texas A&M and came back to work for the family business in 2001. Tyler created a specialty natural pet food brand and division called “Merrick” that was known for its innovative recipes and product quality. It became the best selling can pet food line and natural treat line in pet specialty in the mid 2000’s. It eventually was fully acquired by Nestle in 2015 after the company had partnered with private equity firm Swander Pace. Tyler left the business in 2007 but still served on the board of Merrick in order to start his own entrepreneur dreams. He started a creative agency called 29 Agency and not long after he started incubating Project 7 in the fall of 2008. The vision for the brand was an idea of making a “Newmans Own 2.0” a charitable / philanthropic brand of everyday products across the grocery store. Think brandless before brandless but all about charity. Buy this bag of coffee and provide a meal, buy this pack of gum and plant a tree. They did that for about 5 years and the business was not sustainable anymore… the brand had lost all major customers due to velocity. Merrick relaunched the company in the winter of 2014 as a specialty candy brand. Today Project 7 is in retailers like Target, Starbucks, Cost Plus World Market, Caribou Coffee, Wegmans, HEB, Whole Foods in Q1 of 2018 and specialty stores alike. Tyler married his high school sweetheart from Hereford Texas and they have been married for 16 years. They have 3 daughters and live in Capistrano Beach, CA and their company is headquartered in San Clemente, California.

James Richardson

Founder, Premium Growth Solutions

James Richardson

Founder, Premium Growth Solutions

James is a strategy consultant for emerging food and beverage brands with a professional background in strategy consulting, market research and social science. He has advised well over 75 food and beverage brands on all aspects of growth strategy (i.e. marketing, innovation, channel placement and pricing), from large legacy brands such as Triscuit to small, early stage NOSH brands. www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Josh Resnik

Chief Executive Officer, Twin Cities Co-op Partners

Josh Resnik

Chief Executive Officer, Twin Cities Co-op Partners

Josh Resnik has spent two decades in the food industry, and the last five years as CEO of Twin
Cities Co-op Partners (TCCP) – one of the leading food co-ops in the country. In his role at TCCP,
Josh oversees four natural/organic food businesses based in Minneapolis – two grocery stores
(Wedge and Linden Hills Co-ops), a food distributor that serves a seven-state area (Co-op
Partners Warehouse), and a food production business that sells prepared foods wholesale, as a
Caterer, and at the Wedge Table – a mini market and café. In his role, Josh works closely with
many up and coming local vendors in helping them prepare for retail, grow their in-store
presence, and start up with a distributor. TCCP’s mission is “Build community by developing a
strong local food system.” Outside of work, Josh serves as a judge in the Food and Agriculture
Division for Minnesota Cup – the largest statewide startup competition in the US. He also is on
the board of Mill City Farmers Market, and was previously a board member of Midtown Global
Market and Twin Cities Taste of the Nation. Prior to running TCCP and the Wedge, Josh was CEO
of Wild Idea Buffalo, a grassfed meat company based in Rapid City City, South Dakota Also, he
spent 13 years in marketing and general management at General Mills – working on American
icon brands like Cheerios, Yoplait, and Betty Crocker. There, he helped lead two $50+ million
startups of new products at General Mills. Josh is also a passionate foodie, who loves exploring
new cities and finding the best BBQ, tacos, or hole-in- the-wall markets.

Caroline Love

Former VP, Hampton Creek

Caroline Love

Former VP, Hampton Creek

Caroline Love is a consultant building the next generation of good food companies. Most recently, Caroline was an early employee at Hampton Creek, leading both the operations division and sales team during her nearly 5 years at the food-tech pioneer. Now, she guides new food brands on turning a great idea into a global brand, with a focus on disrupting animal agriculture and reducing the carbon footprint of our global food system. In addition to her insights navigating the challenges and successes of a fast-growth startup, Caroline's areas of expertise include: Supply Chain, Marketing, Communications, Media Training, Retail and Foodservice relationships with the largest food companies in the world. A recent transplant to sunny Los Angeles from San Francisco, Caroline is tracking down the best vegan dishes in town, biking the Venice boardwalk, and exploring LA's farmers markets. Prior to making food her life, Caroline trained as an investigative journalist and spent the beginning of her career anchoring the news and reporting in Columbia, SC. Caroline is a graduate of The University of South Carolina and studied Entrepreneurial Finance at Stanford University.

Michael Renkosiak

Director of Regional Promotions Team, KeHE Distributors

Michael Renkosiak

Director of Regional Promotions Team, KeHE Distributors

35 years in grocery industry. Each career phase involving Snack foods. From well-known regional brands to nationally distributed market leaders, Michael has used direct store-door distribution, regional DSD and national distributors to reach the retail marketplace. His career has been in traditional grocery sales and marketing comprising the first half, and the current half continues in the Natural/Organic focused segment of the industry. Michael brings insights of marketing both branded and private label Snacks as a direct manufacturer, a broker, and a national distributor. He has watched snacking change from a few flavors of potato chips and a few types of pretzels, to an array of meat, nut fruit and vegetable snacks that in some cases have replaced meals. One thing has remained constant. Snacks are still that impulsive buy no matter what type of consumer is purchasing. And reaching that consumer is actually easier than ever.

Jeffrey Klineman

Editor-in-Chief, BevNET

Jeffrey Klineman

Editor-in-Chief, BevNET

As Editor-in-Chief of BevNET, Jeffrey Klineman oversees the organization's reporting across all of its web sites, as well as BevNET Magazine. Jeffrey is also responsible for developing the content for conferences like BevNET Live and Food and Beverage University (FBU). Jeffrey previously worked as a newspaper reporter for the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, the Boston TAB and the Metrowest Daily News, and has freelanced for publications like Slate, Boston Magazine, Self, George, Commonwealth, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Jeffrey is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. A frequently-cited expert on the beverage industry, Jeffrey has also been named in Forbes as one of the 25 Most Influential Kingmakers in Consumer and Retail Companies. He is still trying to live that one down.

Carol Ortenberg

Editor, NOSH

Carol Ortenberg

Editor, NOSH

Carol is the Editor of NOSH, BevNet’s media property focusing on Natural, Healthy, Sustainable and Organic food products. Carol previously worked and consulted for several consumer goods companies, many within the food space. She also was on the marketing team for Whole Foods Market in the North Atlantic region. Prior to focusing on the food industry, Carol worked at several tech companies, including HubSpot, and served as a consumer researcher at AMP Agency. A graduate of Brandeis University in Journalism, Cultural Anthropology and Theater Arts, Carol is passionate about the food, agriculture and beverage industries.

Dave Baram

Founding Partner, VMG Partners

Stephanie Edgecombe

Brand Manager, Food Marketing, ADM

Greg Fleishman

COO & Co-Founder, Foodstirs

Greg Fleishman

COO & Co-Founder, Foodstirs

Greg has created and grown some of the world's largest and most successful brands during his 20-
year career - launching 1,500+ items across 17 food and beverage categories into 12 countries -
focusing primarily on the “green space.” A seasoned veteran with deep knowledge of the natural & organic products industry, Fleishman plays an integral role as COO and co-founder of Foodstirs Modern Baking where he oversees corporate strategy, sales, marketing and operations.
Prior to joining Foodstirs, Fleishman co-founded Modern Alkeme Japanese Supertonics along with
Real Housewife of NYC, Jules Wainstein and industry leader Larry Praeger. He currently serves as Co-founder of Purely Righteous Brands (PRB), a boutique advisory firm dedicated to fostering the
growth of green space companies some of whom include Bonafide Provisions, Once Upon a Farm,
Hail Merry, REBBL, Chameleon Cold-Brew, and GT’s Kombucha. Under PRB, Fleishman has
served as chief marketing &amp; strategy officer for Suja, the #1 cold-pressured fresh juice brand in the
US where he led business strategy, marketing, innovation, and retail customer development. Prior to that, he served as chief marketing officer at Sambazon, the maker of fresh amazon superfood-based beverages. As CMO, Fleishman led marketing, strategy, innovation and business development for Coca-Cola's FUZE & Energy portfolio. He also worked for more than 14 years as an executive marketer at Kashi/Bear Naked and Kelloggs.
In 2016, Fleishman was named to Forbes List of Top Consumer Catalysts. He currently serves on
the Board of Directors for Demeter Biodynamic, Nuun, Modern Alkeme, 4 th & Heart, and
Foodstirs.

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Summer 2017 Conference Highlights

Bootcamp: Education to Get You Started

Learn the Ropes

Early-stage food brand? Bootcamp on November 29 teaches the basics of operating a business in the healthy food industry. Topics include product design, sales channels, legal keys, brand building, funding, and best practices.

Feed Your Growth

Attain industry-specific knowledge. Develop relationships required to scale and grow. Lay the foundation for success. Kickstart new ideas and innovation.

Connect the Dots

Gain clarity on the inner-workings of the food industry. Meet with well-known industry leaders, and put a face to a name. Get a head start on the higher-level programming of Day 2.

Venue

Past Attendees

NOSH Live Attendees Say...

"NOSH Live continues to provide insights, inspiration, and an incredible community for passionate food entrepreneurs and investors. It is a best in class event and experience."

-- Errol Schweizer, Co-Founder, BeyondBrands

"I got to hear directly from people who've achieved what I want to achieve. Attending NOSH LA was a great reminder of the tremendous possibilities in natural foods."

-- Karsten Ch'ien, Yumami Food Company

"If you are thinking of turning your idea into a company or if you have a product that you want to grow into a household name, NOSH Live is the place to start."

-- Amit Pandhi, CEO, Arctic Zero

"NOSH Live is a wonderful event for startup brands as well as industry thought leaders focused on innovation... NOSH is a delightful ecosystem that cares about natural, organic, sustainable, healthy food brands and accelerating their success in market."

NOSH Live Winter 2017 is now only two days away and in addition to our top-notch program, we thought we’d go to Venice. Or, at least, Venice Beach.
After our full day of strategic discussions, case studies, and business pitches, we will be taking the show down the road to The Rose Room in Venice Beach to continue the conversations at the NOSH Live After Party, powered by ForceBrands, The Giannuzzi Group, Snack Nation, 301 INC., Blue Pacific, Soylent, Whipstitch Capital, and L.A. Libations.

At this year’s NOSH Live Winter on Nov. 30, attendees will get a glimpse into the future, in the form of two of the top speakers in the industry: retailing expert and author Phil Lempert and distribution and snack guru Michael Renkosiak.

Extending the lessons from the first day of NOSH Live, Boot Camp will immerse attendees in the ways that products move through the market and will show them how to get it done, from pitching investors and stores to putting impactful products on shelf, hiring as they grow, and attacking online opportunities like Amazon.

The Project NOSH team works throughout the year to put together NOSH Live, an event where natural food brands can learn, breathe and find inspiration and partners to leap forward. The event is designed to create business conversations on stage that last through networking opportunities and on into the operation of their companies.

NOSH Live, the business catapult event for up-and-coming Natural, Organic, Sustainable and Healthy food brands, will feature on-stage interviews with investors from a variety of market perspectives to guide entrepreneurs on what makes them ready to make a deal. The event takes place on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at the Loews Beach Hotel in Santa Monica, California.

NOSH Live, the conference that helps conscious food brands scale with soul, will bring a focus on the business power of positive social impact during a presentation from natural products legend John Foraker, the CEO and Co-Founder of Once Upon a Farm. NOSH Live Winter 2017 will take place on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1...

NOSH Live, the business conference where the next generation of natural food brands comes together to explore growth, is announcing that Saffron Road founder and CEO Adnan Durrani will lead the first wave of speakers on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.

The third installment of the Project NOSH Pitch Slam, sponsored by ADM, will take place on the NOSH Live Winter 2017 stage in Santa Monica, CA on November 30th. Pitch Slam provides a platform for emerging entrepreneurial natural food brands to present their innovative products and business plans to a panel of respected judges from the natural food business.

Questions?

If you have questions about the conference, or would like to submit a speaker, please contact us! A NOSH team member will respond shortly with the requested information.